Charter Communications sought a stay of fresh conditions added last month by the California Public Utilities Commission on the company’s buys of Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks. The stay should remain until the agency decides Charter’s Dec. 29 application for rehearing (see 1701030019), the operator said in a motion for stay of decision 16-12-070 posted Thursday. Commissioners unanimously gave the deal the green light in May but Dec. 19 revised the order to add some conditions sought by consumer groups in rehearing applications. Without a stay, the company said it “will suffer serious and irreparable harm.” The decision “will deprive Charter of its right to due process, since it imposes ex post facto conditions of which Charter had no notice, nor any meaningful opportunity to consider whether to accept before closing the transaction,” it said.

FCC rules don’t preclude Nashville’s one-touch, make-ready ordinance, the Tennessee city told a federal court Wednesday. The city urged the court to reject AT&T and Comcast lawsuits at the U.S. District Court in Nashville, where the providers argued the ordinance is pre-empted by the FCC’s pole-attachments authority. In reply (in Pacer), Nashville said FCC rules promote quick turn-around of existing pole attachers moving equipment to make poles ready for newcomers. The rules do not, as providers claim, guarantee existing attachers at least 60 days to move the equipment, the city said. Rather, the rule says they must set a make-ready date “no later than” 60 days after receiving notice from the new entrant, Nashville said. While providers claim anything less than 60 days will threaten public safety, they’ve previously negotiated with the Nashville Electric Service to move attachments in half that time, it said. The municipality pointed to the FCC’s support of one-touch, make-ready ordinances in a similar AT&T lawsuit against Louisville, Kentucky (see 1610310053). "The FCC explicitly acknowledged that the 'obstacle' that pole attachment rules seek to overcome is 'removing barriers to infrastructure investment and by promoting competition in the telecommunications market,’” Nashville said. Under the FCC pole-attachment regime, states can opt-out of the federal rules, but Tennessee hasn't. "Plaintiffs badly wish to distinguish this Statement on the basis that Kentucky, unlike Tennessee, is an opt-out state, but the FCC Statement supported Climb Once ordinances without qualification," the city said. "And contrary to Plaintiffs’ arguments, there is clear authority that a Statement of Interest constitutes an official position of the agency and is given the same deference as a legal brief." Providers say their pre-emption claim should be settled in the courts rather than the FCC, but the independent agency possesses the authority to settle the matter, Nashville said.

The California Public Utilities Commission will loan Apple iPads to people with speech disabilities, under an 18-month pilot launched Wednesday, the CPUC said in a news release. The Voice Options project will provide iPads with speech apps through short- and long-term loans at 10 demo centers across the state, CPUC said. Users enter what they want to say into the app and then it’s played over the iPad’s speakers, it said. Individuals may borrow an iPad for 30 days to test the app, then apply for a long-term loan, CPUC said. Long-term loans require verification of disability status by a designated professional, it said.

New York State officials said their broadband subsidy auction can't be further delayed until after the FCC completes its planned Connect America Fund Phase II broadband auction. During a call with an aide to Commissioner Mike O'Rielly, the New York officials pressed their case for an FCC waiver to allow the state to use $170 million in CAF II auction funds for Phase III of the state's broadband reverse auction. They said the waiver is the only way to resolve "the timing and funding challenges of the overlapping" auctions, disputing the notion the New York auction could be pushed back until after the FCC auction, which requires further commission action and has yet to be scheduled. "The State already has delayed auctioning these affected communities for almost one year while it diligently discussed various alternatives with Commission staff. Further delays are unworkable given the uncertain timeline of the FCC’s auction and the State’s buildout deadlines, which require winning carriers to substantially complete their deployments by the end of 2018," said an Empire State Development filing posted Wednesday in docket 10-90. The New York officials said their auction would be "technologically neutral and open to wireline, fixed wireless and satellite broadband providers" -- some of which have criticized the state's rules. New York would consider adjusting its rules if necessary to get an FCC waiver but only if consistent with state broadband goals, the filing said.

Rhode Island legislation introduced Wednesday would repeal state 911 surcharges levied on wireless telecom services and residential and business telephone lines. The bill (H-5075) by State Rep. Robert Lancia (R), which was expected (see 1701040055), repeals the state’s 911 Emergency Telephone Number Act. That statute levied a monthly surcharge of $1 on phone bills, transferring most of the money to the state’s general fund and some to its information technology fund. Rhode Island diverted 69.5 percent, or $12.3 million, of 911 revenue in the fiscal year ended June 30, 2015, the FCC reported last year (see 1605270020). "911 falls under Public Safety so it would be, as it already is, funded as part of its budget," Lancia told us by email Thursday.

Colorado and Minnesota announced millions of dollars in broadband grants for rural areas. The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development awarded $34 million for 42 state broadband projects, DEED said in a Wednesday news release. The projects cover 16,627 households, 2,240 businesses and 71 community institutions in greater Minnesota, it said. The state funding is expected to bring in an extra $40 million in private and local funding, DEED said. “It’s not fair when almost 20 percent of Greater Minnesota households don’t have access to opportunity because they don’t have the same broadband connections as their friends and family in the cities,” said Lt. Gov. Tina Smith (D). “We are fixing this: since we started, $66 million in public investment has been matched by over $81.7 million in private funding.” Some of the largest grants were: $4.94 million for Consolidated Telecom, $3 million for TDS Telecom, $2.7 million for two Frontier Communications projects and $2.39 million for two CenturyLink projects. Tuesday, the Colorado Broadband Deployment Board awarded $2.1 million in broadband grants for eight rural infrastructure projects, the board said in a Tuesday news release. The projects, which will be completed over two years, cover about 4,700 households and 175 businesses in Eagle, Cheyenne, Kiowa, Lake, Mesa, Montrose, Ouray, Prowers, Sedgwick and Weld counties, it said. “Broadband access is a critical service for Colorado communities, especially in supporting economic development," said Gov. John Hickenlooper (D). “These grants will bring more than broadband services to many unserved communities; they will also grow opportunity for their local businesses and residents.” CenturyLink won more than half of the Colorado grants, getting $1.14 million for two projects. The board also awarded grants to Nucla-Naturita Telephone, Viaero Wireless, Colorado Central Telecom, PC Telcom, Optimus Communications and Futurum Communications.

Seeking faster internet for schools, Arizona Corporation Commissioners voted 5-0 to launch a rulemaking to create a state match of rural broadband funds with funding from the state USF. Commissioner Andy Tobin proposed the fund earlier this week after Gov. Doug Ducey (R) called for more high-speed internet (see 1701100032). Tobin said he wanted to act quickly so the state could apply for federal E-rate Category One funding. At a commission meeting Wednesday, Tobin said 37 percent of Arizona school districts lack broadband of at least 100 kbps per student, and 60 percent of them are in rural and tribal areas. Arizona Department of Education Superintendent Diane Douglas testified in support of the plan, saying it’s another step to narrow the gap between students in rural and urban areas. “We've seen the power of technology and what it can do for education,” she said. The Arizona commission plans a Jan. 30 stakeholder workshop on the proposed broadband fund, then may consider a proposal at commissioners’ Feb. 7 meeting, Tobin said in an interview: “We are working very closely with the governor’s office and the Department of Education.”

The California Public Utilities Commission plans soon to address a pole-attachments petition by the Wireless Infrastructure Association, a CPUC spokeswoman said Tuesday. WIA asked the agency to extend right-of-way (ROW) rules of commercial mobile radio services to wireless pole attachments by CLECs. A CPUC-proposed decision released earlier this week denied a similar petition by the California Cable & Telecommunications Association to extend the ROW rules to cable companies; a WIA official said it’s hard to say what that ruling’s implications are for CPUC analysis of the WIA petition (see 1701100062).

The FCC plans a USF webinar Jan. 24 tailored to state and local government officials, said a Consumer and Governmental Affairs public notice Tuesday. The 2-3 p.m. EST webinar will provide an overview of how telecom subsidy funds are raised and distributed among the USF Connecting America (high cost), E-rate (schools and libraries), Lifeline (low income) and rural healthcare programs, said the PN, which had further details on registering for the event (a registration link can be copied and pasted if clicking on it doesn't work).

The California Public Utilities Commission closed its telecom competition probe too soon, consumer groups said. The Utility Reform Network (TURN), Center for Accessible Technology and Greenlining Institute applied for rehearing of the CPUC’s December decision, as expected (see 1612010061). "Joint Consumers submit that the Commission has committed legal error by failing to ‘proceed in the manner required by the law’ and adopting a decision that ‘is not supported by the findings,’” said the application posted Tuesday in docket I. 15-11-007. It said the agency “closed this investigation despite specific findings in the Final Decision that expose the Commission’s failure to meet its statutory obligations and uphold long-held policies that protect vulnerable consumers, ensure just and reasonable rates, and encourage meaningful competition and innovative telecommunications offerings to all California consumers.”